сряда, 10 октомври 2012 г.

Amenra at Fabrica, Bucharest 06.10.12

I waited almost an year to see this band and experience their ritual. I wrote a review for the lovely Rawk'n'Roll. It's in Bulgarian though, so I translated the paragraphs describing my time in the Church of Ra. Read it below in English, and if you know Bulgarian click HERE for the full story. It was a total life-changer.

...the time in Fabrica suddenly starts to
function in a different way. Darkness is getting thicker and is only
interrupted by black and white visuals. In front of the stage bodies are
gathering, and on it a blurry image appears. It is showing the insides
of a church. The five men from Amenra are there. Mathiue is staring
through our bodies and his guitar lets us all in the Church of Ra. I've
seen tens of photos of their concerts, I've heard the stories of few
dear friends. But this here is different. Amenra's music is thick and
massive like a wall. It's dragging you to itself and wants to show you
what is beyond. It swallows you in a space created by slow and heavy
sounds, anxious and sick melodies and ritual rhythms. In front of you
there are four people, staring in the very same space you are
inhabiting. They are not playing but are pulsating in one with your
senses. And among them you see Colin. Never looking at the audience
during the whole show. With the mic cable around his hands, he's like
trapped in his own pulsations in his own space. The Amenra poetry tears
his throat and turns into the last missing texture of their sound
environment. You oftenly feel your eyes are irrelevant. You share the
blank stares of the other dark silhouettes and you are just listening.
You hold her hand and think you are at least controlling this. Then you
feel your bodies moving in an unison, engaged in the common pulse.
During the whole show I see Colin's face twice. I see his lips moving
even when he's not singing. And this helps you understand what are those
people and what music means to them. It is their ritual, we are their
ears and all together we are in the domains of Ra.

At a point
the screen goes black. The worn out images are gone. Only the Amenra
logo is still there. The five men are gone. The grip around your neck is
loosened. Her hand is still here but the oxygen insufficiency remains
for few more hours. Actually it is a pleasant reminder of where you were
- the place where air was replaced by the black and thick substance
which is actually Amenra's music.